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| Re: Panic: Obama cancels press briefing, going on ABC to publically support gay marriage (940062) | |||
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Re: Panic: Obama cancels press briefing, going on ABC to publically support gay marriage |
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Posted by SLRT on Wed May 9 16:08:15 2012, in response to Re: Panic: Obama cancels press briefing, going on ABC to publically support gay marriage, posted by bingbong on Wed May 9 15:55:29 2012. The priest, etc., can only marry you (a) if you have received a marriage license (state issued) and (b) the religious figure has been authorized by the state. For example, the Reverend Al might be a real ordained minister, but if he hasn't been authorized by the state to perform marriages, he can't marry anyone.In order for said captain to marry us, we had to file with the town clerk five days in advance with all the usual stuff, and had to receive a license. We weren't married until the captain said his words and signed our paperwork, but he could only do so because he was authorized by the state. The fact that you do or don't have a ceremony in a civil setting is irrelevant. Unless the state issues the license and the authorized person signs off on it, you ain't married.* A marriage conducted by a ship's captain is the equivalent to a civil ceremony on land... but much cooler! It would have been even cooler if the bride tossed me in the water. *There is one exception to all this: when you still had common-law marriage, you were considered married if certain conditions were met (varied, but included how long you cohabited, whether you had children together, whether you "held yourself out in the community as married" and such like) This was more for the protection of the children in most cases, and questions of property, relationship, etc. But you were married. |
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